BUSH CABINET Mineta, 3 others to stay

The White House says the Cabinet transition is nearly complete.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
WASHINGTON -- The White House signaled Thursday that the remolding of President Bush's Cabinet is nearly finished, with word that four additional members will remain on a team that is critical to advancing the president's agenda.
The four planning to stay are Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Interior's Gale Norton, and Housing and Urban Development's Alphonso Jackson.
Along with Treasury Secretary John Snow, whom Bush reluctantly asked to remain earlier this week, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the president will have just six of 15 Cabinet members serving near the end of his first term.
"We are at the point where we're nearing the completion of the Cabinet transition," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Thursday.
The president's second-term team -- especially his economic advisers -- will be instrumental in advocating his legislative agenda.
That includes Snow, an economist and former railroad executive whom the White House had initially hoped to replace with a more forceful treasury secretary to oversee Bush's two big legislative goals for his second term: tax reform and Social Security.
Some experts believe that to have a chance of pushing through such large-scale initiatives, Bush will need dynamic economic advisers skilled at dealing with the public, Congress and the media. That's why former Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, among others, was suggested as a possible treasury secretary.
Energy, HHS
With the exodus from his Cabinet over for now, Bush is still in the process of replacing those who left.
The president on Thursday nominated Jim Nicholson, U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and a former Republican National Committee chairman, to serve as secretary of veterans affairs, replacing Anthony Principi. Nicholson, a West Point graduate, is a decorated Vietnam War veteran.
Bush still must appoint replacements for Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.
Dr. Mark McClellan, a physician who heads the Medicare and Medicaid programs, is considered most likely to lead HHS.